Israeli man to give birth

A 24-year-old man shocked medical staff in central Israel Sunday after walking into an emergency room and informing doctors that he underwent a sex change operation and is now pregnant, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday.

The man, who was born as a woman, is the first Israeli transgender to ever be pregnant. He is married to a man and is in the seventh month of pregnancy.

“Everyone was in shock,” said a patient at the hospital who was in the emergency room when the man walked in. “He looked like a man in every way and insisted that medical staff address him as a male.”

The man was reportedly sporting a goatee.

The pregnant man, who asked that his identity remain secret, has been taking hormones that have made his appearance manlier. Some three years ago, he underwent a breast-removal surgery in the United States. However, he chose to leave his productive organs intact, thereby paving the way for the current pregnancy.

The man’s friends say that he often volunteers to help teenagers who are confused about their sexual orientation and identity.

Following a medical examination, the man was released from hospital Sunday. Doctors apparently ruled that the pregnancy is proceeding as planned.

According to estimates, in Israel only 1 of every 400,000 women seeks to become a man. The sex change operation usually includes the removal of the female sex organs and construction of a penis.